When it comes to family feuds, unfortunately it can sometimes take some kind of tragic obstacle for those involved to start mending fences. The royal family has definitely seen plenty of those recently. Despite Prince Harry’s estrangement from his father and brother, he visited King Charles III after his cancer diagnosis was revealed early this year, and Harry also reportedly reached out to sister-in-law Kate Middleton when she, too, was found to have cancer. Were those signs that the royals were on the road to reconciliation? Apparently not.
The rift between the king and his younger son started back in 2020, when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle chose to step away from their royal duties and relocate to the United States, doing a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey. Things only got worse last year with the release not only of the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan but of his tell-all memoir Spare, which made even more wild allegations against King Charles III and Prince William. Despite their “warm” visit in February, a source for ET reports that things have only gotten more complicated between the father and son, alleging:
Prince Harry’s relationship with his father has deteriorated to a new low level.
While the Duke of Sussex has refused to divulge what was said between him and his father during their visit, Prince Harry was reportedly with the king for less than 45 minutes. The source reports that they have not been together since, as the son was denied time with Charles when he returned to London in July for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games.
Prince Harry's biggest issue seems to be security for himself and his family, and he has reportedly made it clear that Meghan Markle and the couple’s two children will not return until their security has been reinstated. According to the insider:
[Charles and Harry are] at loggerheads over Harry's security requests and are no longer communicating. Harry has genuine security concerns about the safety of his family in light of Princess Diana’s death and feels that his father can help him in his ongoing battle with RAVEC (the entity that oversees security).
The effect that Princess Diana’s death had on Prince Harry seems undeniable, and other sources have claimed that the Duke of Sussex thinks his mother would be proud that he took action to protect his own wife from possibly suffering a similar fate.
His family’s safety is something Harry seems unwilling to budge on, and the trust that he’s lost in pursuit of that security is not something that’s easily earned back, according to the source, who said:
Their rift is not only just tied to security but also the family's distrust of Harry and Meghan, including Harry’s tell-all bestselling memoir.
Spare included a number of stories about himself and other members of his family. Prince Harry recalled the 2005 scandal in which he dressed as a Nazi for a party, outing Prince William and Kate Middleton for encouraging him to do so. The title of the book even comes from a cruel joke that Charles allegedly told at Harry’s birth, saying that with William and Harry, Princess Di had given him “an heir and a spare.” In Harry & Meghan, meanwhile, many saw the Duke of Sussex’s comments on marrying for love as shade toward William and Kate.
While there seemed to be small signs that Harry might be able to patch things up with the royal family, with so much distrust on both sides, maybe we’re actually further away from that than ever.
